In her latest blog post, Sacred Cows: Battling Ourselves, Angie Moore takes on an important topic — how did you guess? — nonprofit sacred cows. She observes:

“Most people prefer some type of routine. Those routines create patterns, and before long we’re all saying, “Well, that’s the way we do it.” So an organization that has some sacred cows is not a bad organization. Also, not all sacred cows are bad. But there is a time where all sacred cows need to be examined, and yes, sometimes it’s time to put them to rest.”

She goes on to discuss a variety of situations where, in deference to sacred cows, “nonprofits choose their own interests over what is best for their supporters”. Recommended reading!

I was stuck by her first example, concerning programs. Angie says:

“On the fundraising side of the house, a budget year doesn’t go by without some kind of measurement of efficiency via cost per dollar raised or some other type of ROI. But on the mission side, organizations sometimes just keep doing programs because that’s what they’ve always done. These can become very emotional discussions internally. If you get a good chief financial officer involved, the conversation will even include discussions about whether the money could be spent on a different mission-based program and have greater impact on the intended audience or the mission of the organization.

“Staff sometimes confuses the tenure of a program with the value to the brand … But, hands down, a regular review of the programs an organization delivers is critical to ensure consumers can trust it to spend money the right way.”

Although she didn’t say so directly, I ‘heard’ Angie suggesting that fundraisers are supposed to stick their noses into — dare I say it? — the program side of their organizations. And in a more probing, strategic way than simply trying to cherry pick the next topic for a special appeal!

Good fundraisers, whether major gift officers or direct marketers, should insist on selling results … and the emotional satisfaction that donors will get from helping achieve those results, with even more to come.

So, within the organization, a fundraiser should be a constant voice questioning the efficacy of programs. Not in some sophisticated ‘program evaluation’ sense, nor as an antagonist, but certainly in the sense of constantly asking: why are we doing this (Program X) and what benefit is it producing for those counting on us to successfully achieve our mission?

If the program managers can’t answer those questions in a convincing, concrete way, the fundraiser should press for a reality check … and certainly demur from trying to sell the product.

The fundraiser should be the donors’ personal shopper … making sure they get what they’re looking for.

As an intermediary, yes, of course the fundraiser must have the marketing skills to ‘polish the chrome’ on programs that pass the sniff test. That said, let me suggest that the fundraiser’s client is the donor, not the program staff.

Agree?

Tom